How quickly will battery technology evolve?
In November 2020, Lloyds Bank carried out a survey to find out what owners of petrol and diesel cars thought about EVs and asked them if they’re considering switching to electric. Of 500 respondents, 23% stated that they were planning to choose an EV as their next car, while 32% said that they ‘might’ make the switch in the future.
Based on these results, it would appear that most people are giving serious thought to switching to an EV, but some are biding their time to see if the technology develops further to produce faster charging, cheaper, lighter vehicles that are able to travel greater distances on a single charge. Even the idea of that one long road trip a year was enough to put some people off choosing an EV.
For most people, driving for two to three hours a day isn’t something that they need to worry about. In the UK, the average trip is short, so people want to be able to charge quickly and go. In the past decade, we’ve seen the range of the first mass - market EVs double. For example, supercharging a Tesla will give you a range of roughly 200 miles in around 15 minutes.
Will battery technology keep evolving at the same rate it has since the first EV hit the roads? More importantly, do we need it to?
On the previous page we explained how solid state batteries could be the next breakthrough in EV power. They’re energy dense, less expensive and incredibly fast to charge.
The key factor is the energy density of the battery, or the amount of energy it can store. It has a direct impact on how far the car can travel without having to recharge. In a nutshell, two batteries can be the same weight, but one is able to take you further if it has a greater energy density.
Analysts predict that in the next decade there could be a rise in EV battery density of between 25% and 40%. However, the EV market is dynamic, and these predictions may not materialise.
The bottom line is, if your driving habits aren’t out of the ordinary, today’s EV batteries are powerful enough to cover your day – to - day needs.
Today’s EVs are a great way for us to make a difference to our carbon footprint, and financing could help to cover the initial cost. And, with the sale of new petrol and diesel cars due to be banned from 2030, it’s a decision that we’ll all need to make soon.